Having sat on both sides of the decision-making table, I’ve stood in rooms where budgets, contracts, or careers hung in the balance, and later found myself among those making the decisions, watching others stand up and do the same. One thing I observed in those moments has stayed with me. The best idea in the[…]
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Presentation Skills category
The Best Idea Doesn’t Always Win. Often, the Best-Presented One Does.
Leadership, Presentation Skills, Public Speaking Oct 06, 2026
What To Say Instead Of An Elevator Pitch
Advice, Communication Skills, Leadership, Presentation Skills, Public Speaking Oct 01, 2026
I enjoy networking far more than most people expect, and I have never once enjoyed an elevator pitch, my own included. You’ve heard this one, or something close enough that the difference doesn’t matter. “Good morning, my name is John, and I’m a partner at ABC; solicitors, accountants, marketing, training, whatever it happens to be.[…]
How To Give A Brilliant Presentation
Communication Skills, Presentation Skills, Public Speaking Sep 30, 2026
Nobody in your audience is expecting brilliance. They didn’t come hoping to be dazzled, and they won’t leave disappointed if they aren’t. What they want is for you to tell them something they need, in a way that reaches them, and then to let them get on with their day. That is worth knowing before[…]
Four Ways To Keep An Audience Interested
Communication Skills, Leadership, Mindfulness, Presentation Skills Sep 30, 2026
Sit through somebody else’s presentation this week and spend a few minutes watching the audience instead of the speaker. It is the best training available to anybody who presents; it is free, and almost nobody does it. You will notice one of two rooms: either faces looking up and appearing interested, or the gentle, slow[…]
How To Avoid Death by PowerPoint
Bullet Point, Communication Skills, PowerPoint, Presentation Skills, Public Speaking Sep 30, 2026
Let me begin somewhere rather unfashionable: nothing much is wrong with PowerPoint. I have watched it used to genuinely powerful effect, complementing a speaker’s key point and bringing something to life that words alone would have left flat; in the right hands, a visual is an asset, not a liability. I have also watched[…]
How To Network When You Hate Networking
Advice, Communication Skills, Presentation Skills, Public Speaking Sep 21, 2026
For a great many people, networking is dreaded more than public speaking itself, which is saying something. I have met a very large number of people who treat it as a necessary evil, somewhere between a dental appointment and a tax return, and having spent a good many years going to these things, I[…]
